In this issue

Diabetes, heart disease and other noncommunicable diseases continue their rise around the globe. Can technology, big data and behavioral economics reverse the trend? The World Economic Forum partnered with Willis Towers Watson to find the answer.LEARN MORE

What types of decisions are U.S. employees making when they can choose from among myriad health benefit plans? The Private Exchange Research Council set about answering that question, and the results are in. Some trends:

System recommendations are making a bigger impact. In 2015, 38% of employees bought the plan recommended by the system’s decision support tool — a 6% increase over 2013.

In this era of consumer-driven health care, the use of HSAs is on the rise. The percentage of employees who enrolled in HSA-qualified health plans edged up from 38% in 2013, to 42% in 2015.

Employees’ purchases on private exchanges are increasing. The average number of products employees purchased on exchanges increased from 3.6 products in 2013, to 4.4 products in 2015.

Unless employees buy into an M&A deal’s objectives from the start — and remain committed to the deal’s vision through the close and beyond — even the best-planned transactions can slip off the rails. How do deal makers keep employee engagement strong enough to keep the deal moving toward its goals? Involve HR early in the process, and give HR executives the resources to closely monitor the people element.READ THE ARTICLE

In the newly minted administration, how soon will we see changes to tax rates and regulations on the fiduciary rule, pay ratios and other things that affect your retirement and compensation programs?
Missed our January 11 webcast? Here’s a sampling of insights from the discussion:

Before tax reform gets under way in earnest, more favorable pension P&L costs will mean greater incentive for employers to contribute to pension plans and greater flexibility to consider de-risking actions.

Potentially higher interest rates and lower tax rates will increase employees’ confidence in their retirement readiness — though uncertainty about medical coverage will cut into that confidence.

Employers can assume the CEO pay ratio disclosure will be required in 2018 proxy filings.